Canada Post works its way through mail backlog after employee tests positive for COVID-19

A Canada Post truck makes its way down Pippy Place near the main Kenmount postal station Tuesday. Mail delivery resumed Monday following a shutdown when an employee at the station tested positive for the coronavirus. - Keith Gosse/The Telegram

Safety precautions may slow pace of some procedures as activity ramps up at sorting facility

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. —

Activity is ramping up as most Canada Post workers based out of the Kenmount Road sorting facility in St. John's are back on the job following a recent COVID-19 scare.

The focus now, according to Canadian Union of Postal Workers St. John’s Local 126 spokesman Craig Dyer, is on a considerable backlog of mail. Some workers did return to the facility last week to address cheques that needed to get out — Dyer said they were mostly temporary workers and people who were off on annual leave when a presumptive positive test for COVID-19 within the workforce forced most staff to undergo two weeks of self-isolation.

Eastern Health informed Canada Post about the presumptive positive test on March 23. The Crown corporation suspended activity at the facility until the following Monday, March 30.

According to Dyer, who was among those in self-isolation after contact tracing determined who was considered at risk, seven employees experienced symptoms consistent with COVID-19. Five of those workers are now permitted to return to work, while two were still experiencing symptoms as of Tuesday and recovering in the comfort of their own homes.

"You walk into our facility with 100 people working and somebody sneezes — everybody is looking over their shoulder," Dyer said. "We have put as much positive emphasis on safety that we can do, but the stress and anxiety is still there."

Dyer said the public can do its part to help make their workdays a little less stressful.

"We're asking people to help us out and see if we can get the mail moving faster by respecting our space, and a nod and a wave is a lot better than coming inside my six feet," he said.

New priorities

Last week, the focus for the small crew of workers in place was to process cheques. As of last Friday, some of the self-isolating employees were told they could return to work, allowing for mail delivery to resume on a handful of routes in St. John's and Mount Pearl. As of Tuesday morning, the sorting facility was full of mail, with some items previously kept in storage yards making their way through the processing system.

"We've got a fair staff in there now — I'm going to say 80 per cent plus," Dyer said, adding he expects some overtime will be used in the coming days to help address the backlog. "The people are just processing the mail to get it out as quick as possible."

The majority of Canada Post workers based in St. John's are back to work this week and dealing with a substantial backlog of mail to deliver following an employee's presumptive positive COVID-19 test. — ANDREW ROBINSON/THE TELEGRAM

Within the sorting facility, changes have been made to specifically address physical distancing. Some of those changes may affect the swiftness of mail operations.

"Where you would have three people working a conveyor belt, now you probably have two because of the distance of the belt," Dyer said, offering an example. "As far as processing the mail, we've made several changes to our working conditions. The majority of people start work at 8:30 a.m. that actually deliver the mail in the St. John's metro area. Now we've gone to two shifts. We've gone to a 6:30 a.m. shift and an 8:30 shift. The intent there is the minimize the amount of people in the letter carrier depot and to give space."

Different delivery times

As a result of this change, people may get their mail at a different time of day than they would normally expect.

"It's slowing it down a little bit, but not to an extent to be concerned," Dyer said. "This is snowmageddon part two. We survived that and we cleaned that up relatively quick — I think it was little over a week. What the public has got to remember is it was not only St. John's metro area that was shut down. Once the postal facility opened, the clerks were processing the mail for the rest of Newfoundland and Labrador. That was moving."

Dyer added he understands the frustrations of people waiting for items to arrive.

"What I saw this morning, there's an awful lot of mail in the depot and there's an awful lot of mail in the post office. The workers are doing their best to get it out, and we understand people's frustrations, because we are as frustrated."